50 Journal of a Voyage through the 



quent, the island. The frame of the canoe, which was 

 entire, was put together with whalebone : it was sewed in 

 some parts, and tied in others. The sltdges were from 

 four to eight feet long ; the length of the bars was upwards 

 of two feet ; the runners were two inches thick, and nine 

 inches deep ; the prow was two feet and an half high, and 

 formed of two pieces, sewed with whalebone ; to three 

 other thin spars of wood, which were of the same height, 

 and fixed in the runners by means of mortises, were sewed 

 two thin broad bars lengthways, at a small distance from 

 each other ; these frames were fixed together with three 

 or four cross-bars, tied fast upon the runners ; and on the 

 lower edge of the latter, small pieces of horn were fastened 

 by wooden pegs, that they might slide with greater facility* 

 They are drawn by shafts, which I imagine are applied to 

 any particular sledge as they are wanted, as I saw no more 

 than one pair of them. 



About half past one we came opposite to the first spruce- 

 tree that we had seen for some time ; there are but very 

 few of them on the main land, and they are very small; 

 those are larger which are found on the islands, where they 

 grow in patches, and close together. It is, indeed, very 

 extraordinary that there should be any wood whatever in a 

 country where the ground never thaws above five inches 

 from the surface. We landed at seven in the evening. 

 The weather was now very pleasant, and in the course of 

 the day we saw great numbers of v/ild fowl, with their 

 young ones, but they were so shy that we could not ap- 

 proach them. The Indians were not very successful in 

 their foraging party, as they killed only two grey cranes^ 

 and a grey goose. Two of them were employed on the 

 high land to the Eastward, through the greater part of the j 

 day, in search of rein-deer, but they could discover nothing 

 more than a few tracks of that animal. I also ascended 

 the high land, from whence I had a delightful view of 

 the river, divided into innumerable streams, meandering 

 through islands, some of which were covered with wood, 

 and others with grass. The mountains, that formed the 

 opposite horizon, were at the distance of forty miles. The 

 inland view was neither so extensive nor agreeable, being 

 terminated by a near range of bleak, barren hills, between 

 which are small lakes or ponds, while the surrounding 

 country is covered with tufts of moss, without the shade 

 of a single tree. Along the hills is a kind of fence, made 



